What Christmas Means To Me 38000

This year instead of making us work, Jossip grand poobah David Hauslaib asked us to write “at least one holiday-related post.” Well David, readers, this is it.-raronauer

I should be working today. It???s Christmas Eve, and I have no tree to trim, no last minutes presents to buy and no epiphanies about the greater importance of my actions in the Universe to have.

I???m Jewish, and to me Christmas means nothing. The entire holiday is a bit like I Am Legend. I???m aware something???s happening, that other people are excited, but the production isn???t really marketed at me and I have no interest in participating.

But like physicists trying to figure out the beginning of the Universe, nothing, at least to me, is something. I???ve never worked on Christmas Eve or Christmas, even though I could. Like everyone else, I take the day off and spend it with my family.

Perhaps because we find stereotypes funny, my family always ends up embracing ours. For as long as I can remember, we???ve gotten Chinese food and seen a movie together. Walk into any Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day, and you???ll feel like you???re in Israel. Everyone there has an unspoken connection. There???s no need to nod to your fellow patron, or make a self-deprecating joke to the waitress about why you???re there instead of eating ham somewhere else. Everyone knows, and no one is judging, which is a special thing for a group of Jewish people.

So even though I???m not celebrating the birth of Christ, or whatever happens tomorrow, Christmas does mean something to me. It???s a time to regroup from Holiday party drinking and prepare for New Year???s Eve drinking. It???s a time to hang out with the family without the protection of new presents to ease any tension. And with all the Christmas commercials and related crap, it???s a time to be thankful that movies like I Am Legend were never that appealing to me anyway.

Of course, maybe this is just my absurdly earnest spin on Christmas. Maybe this is just how everyone else felt when we got Yom Kippur off from school.

I won’t say Merry Christmas because that would be inappropriate. Thank you so much for recognizing Christmas as a Christian holiday. Every group has a holiday that is exclusive to that group, and they aren’t required to share. It’s sad that so many non Christians have latched on to Christmas. It’s really subtracting from the true meaning of Christmas. Thank you for being so respectful!